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(No Model.) I R. R. MOFPATT. ELECTRIC Re LAMP.

N0.v286,144. Patented Oct. 2, 1883.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

RICHARD R. MOFFATT, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

ELECTRIC-ARC LAMP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 286,144, dated October 2, 1883.

Application filed June 5, 1889.. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RIcIIAnD Rv. MoEFA'rT, oi" the city of Brooklyn, inthe county of Kings and State oi' 'New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Electric Lamps; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, and to the letters of reference Inarked thereon.

My invention relates to that class of electric lamps known as the are system 5 7 and it consists in a novel, simple, and effective means i'or automatically changing the course of the electric current through the lamp when from any cause an abnormal resistance occurs in the arecircuit, or the electric current therein vis interrupted by the breaking of a carbon or by the non-action of the feed mechanism, so that other lamps that are located in t-he same electric circuit will not be interrupted, and that will automatically re-est-ablish the arc when the carbons in said lamp shall come together again.

The annexed drawing represents a longitudinal vertical section of one form of device. cmbodyin g my invention, showing its adaptation to a lamp the details of which are more fully illustrated and set forth in United States Letters Patent No. 258,244, granted to me May 23, 1882, and to which I refer, but I desire it to be distinctly understood that in my present invention I do not in any degree limit myself.

to the carlion-separating devices shown in said patent, or to any deinite means for separating the electrodes or governing them in their relation to each other, as my invention is equally applicable to various forms oi' arc-lamps.

In the accompanyingdrawing, A represents the frame ofthe lamp, B, the metal case that contains the mechanism that forms the are and regulates the feed movement of the upper-carbon holder.

C is a tube secured to the case B, and may be provided with Vmeans at its upper end by which the lamp can be suspended.

D is the upper-carbon holder, provided with a rack.

H is a frame-piece provided with extension-y pieces, through which pass rods c, which serve to hold the frame H in position, and to guide it in Yits upward and downward movement an eseapement-wheel, cf, and pinion c are mounted in the frame H. I

I is an adjusting-screw, upon which the bottom ofthe frame H rests, (when down.) Its object is to control the movement of the frame II, and thereby regulate the size of the arc. This adjusting-screw is insulated from the case B and frame I-I, and has a metallic or other suitable connection, K, with the negative bi nding-post. A central prolongation ofthe adjust ingsscrew I is made to extend through the bottom of the frame II.

M is an electro-1nagnet forming part of the main or are circuit, and is secured to the case B, as shown in the drawing. m is its armature, which is attached to a tilting frame-piece c, one end of which is pivoted to the side ot' the case I3. The other end operates within the frame-piece H. An escapement, g, is pivoted to the frame-piece o, and is arranged to engage with and operate the escapement-wheel c. The frame c rests upon the'end ofthe prolongation of the adjusting-screw I when down. A space is left between the upper face oi' the frame 11 and the lug it on the frame-piece H, which permits the end ofthe frame lv to be raised a suiii cient distance (before acting upon the frame H through its lug 7M) te cause the eseapement g to become engaged with the escapement-wheel-c' in the operation of forming the arc. The i'rame A supports the lowercarbon holder, and is properly insulated from the case B and tube O. The current from the generator, when the lamp is giving light, cnters the lamp through the binding post marked passing, as indicated by the arrows in the drawing, through the upper-carbon holder D, the carbon-electrodes E Il, the

-frame A and A, the wire ofthe electro-magnet M, to the binding-post marked M, and hence to the generator, (or other source.)

The operation ci' this invention is as follows: IVhen the circuit is first closed, the electric current has two courses through the lamp f. c., one through the carbon-electrodes and electromagnet M, as indicated by the arrows, the other through the adjustingscrew I and the Inetallie or carbon conductor K. Notwithstanding this division ol' the current, the electromagnet M011 each lamp in the circuit) be- IOO its carbon, thus separating the electrodes E and E, when the arc will appear. The car; bons, as they are consumed, are fed forward as shown in theLetters Patent above referred to, or in any other suit-able manner. If the arc is broken by accident or intent, the electromagnet ceases tov attract, when its armature falls, together with its frame o and the framepiece H. Then the end ofthe frame v will rest upon the adjnstingscrew I, closing a circuitl through it and the conducting-rod K with the binding-post marked cutting out the lamp, thus preventing interference with the proper action of other lamps on the same circuit. If the lamp is normally in an operative condition, and its cut out, has been caused by some trivial interruption-as, for instance, by

a carbon breaking, and thus destroying the' arc-the light will be automatically re-established upon a reunion of the electrodes, as the current is then divided between two circuits, in one of which is located the electro-magnet M, which becomes sufficiently powerful (with aweak current) to raise its armature and break the circuit through the adjusting-screw I before it operates to separate the carbons, thus causing the entire electric current to pass through the main of iight Circuit when the electro -magnet M becomes sufficiently powerful to separate the electrodes and form the arc 3 5 If desired, the pivoted armature-frame v may be so balanced, by means of a spring or other suitable device, that it can be operated by the'electro-magnet'M, even when a small portion of the current is passing through 4o .its helix, and the strength of the magnet may be increased by the introduction of a resistance in the shunt or cut-out circuit; but it is not necessary that it be greater than that in the main or lamp circuit. In some cases it may be advisable to use an axial electro-magnetas an equivalent for the electro-magnet M.

Having thus fully described the nature, construction, and the operation of my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secu-re by Letters Patent, is-

The combination, in an electric lamp, of the electro-1nagnet M, its armature m, pivoted lever o, moving train-frame, and the regulatingscrew I, the latter insulated from the frame and arranged so as to support and regulate its downward movement, with means for closing and breaking a shunt or cut-out circuit through' the lever o and regulating-screw I, substantially as specified.- f It. R. MOFFATT.

Witnesses:

ARTHUR C. SALMON, S. GHrcHEs'rnR. 

